Level Overview

Level Title Years Scope
L1 Marketing Coordinator 0-2 Single channel or campaign execution
L2 Marketing Manager 2-5 Product/segment marketing ownership
L3 Senior Marketing Manager 5-8 Multiple products or integrated campaigns
L4 Marketing Lead/Principal 8-12 Category or regional marketing leadership
L5A Associate Director (IC) 10-15 Specialized expertise with company impact
L5B Associate Director (People) 10-15 Team leadership + strategic initiatives
L6 Director/Sr Director 12-18 Function or division marketing leadership
L7 VP Marketing/CMO 15+ Global marketing strategy and vision

KRA Weightage Distribution

KRA Coordinator Manager Sr Manager Lead AD (IC) AD (People) Director VP/CMO
Strategy & Planning 0% 5% 15% 20% 25% 20% 30% 40%
Campaign Execution 50% 35% 25% 15% 10% 5% 0% 0%
Content & Creative 25% 20% 15% 10% 15% 10% 5% 0%
Analytics & Performance 15% 20% 20% 20% 15% 15% 15% 10%
Brand Management 5% 10% 15% 20% 20% 20% 25% 30%
Leadership & Development 5% 10% 10% 15% 15% 30% 25% 20%

Detailed Competencies by Level

L1: Marketing Coordinator

Campaign Execution (50%)

  • Execute marketing campaigns across assigned channels
  • Coordinate with vendors and agencies
  • Manage campaign timelines and deliverables
  • Handle event logistics and coordination
  • Email campaign deployment and list management
  • Social media scheduling and community management

Content & Creative (25%)

  • Write basic marketing copy (emails, social posts)
  • Brief creation for design team
  • Content calendar maintenance
  • Basic image editing and formatting
  • Presentation deck creation
  • Marketing collateral updates

Analytics & Performance (15%)

  • Campaign performance reporting
  • Basic metrics tracking (opens, clicks, conversions)
  • Weekly/monthly report compilation
  • Data entry and CRM maintenance
  • Competitive monitoring and reporting

Brand Management (5%)

  • Brand guideline adherence
  • Asset library maintenance
  • Template management
  • Brand compliance checking

Leadership & Development (5%)

  • Cross-functional collaboration
  • Process documentation
  • Marketing tool proficiency
  • Industry trend awareness

L2: Marketing Manager

Campaign Execution (35%)

  • Own end-to-end campaign management
  • Multi-channel campaign coordination
  • Agency brief creation and management
  • Campaign budget management ($100K-500K)
  • A/B testing and optimization
  • Marketing automation setup

Analytics & Performance (20%)

  • ROI analysis and attribution
  • Dashboard creation and maintenance
  • Customer journey mapping
  • Conversion funnel optimization
  • Cohort analysis basics
  • Marketing mix modeling inputs

Content & Creative (20%)

  • Content strategy for product/segment
  • Creative brief development
  • Messaging framework creation
  • SEO content optimization
  • Video script writing
  • Case study development

Brand Management (10%)

  • Product positioning development
  • Competitive differentiation
  • Brand voice consistency
  • Visual identity application

Leadership & Development (10%)

  • Mentor junior team members
  • Lead cross-functional projects
  • Present to senior stakeholders
  • Industry networking

Strategy & Planning (5%)

  • Quarterly campaign planning
  • Segment strategy input
  • Market research coordination
  • Customer persona development

L3: Senior Marketing Manager

Campaign Execution (25%)

  • Integrated campaign strategy
  • Multi-product launch coordination
  • Global campaign localization
  • Partner marketing programs
  • Budget management ($500K-2M)
  • Marketing tech stack optimization

Analytics & Performance (20%)

  • Advanced attribution modeling
  • Predictive analytics application
  • Marketing efficiency metrics
  • Customer LTV optimization
  • Market share analysis
  • Experiment design and analysis

Strategy & Planning (15%)

  • Annual marketing planning
  • Go-to-market strategy
  • Pricing and packaging input
  • Market expansion planning
  • Competitive intelligence

Brand Management (15%)

  • Brand architecture development
  • Brand health tracking
  • Crisis communication planning
  • Thought leadership programs
  • PR strategy coordination

Content & Creative (15%)

  • Content strategy across channels
  • Creative campaign concepts
  • Influencer strategy
  • Content performance optimization
  • Editorial calendar ownership

Leadership & Development (10%)

  • Team skill development
  • Process improvement initiatives
  • External speaking (1-2/year)
  • Cross-team collaboration

L4: Marketing Lead/Principal

Strategy & Planning (20%)

  • Multi-year strategic planning
  • Market category definition
  • Customer segmentation strategy
  • Partnership strategy
  • Innovation pipeline

Brand Management (20%)

  • Brand evolution strategy
  • Global brand consistency
  • Executive thought leadership
  • Industry positioning
  • Analyst relations

Analytics & Performance (20%)

  • Marketing mix optimization
  • Predictive modeling oversight
  • Board-level metrics definition
  • Marketing ROI frameworks
  • Data strategy development

Campaign Execution (15%)

  • Campaign portfolio management
  • Center of excellence creation
  • Best practice development
  • Global-local balance
  • Vendor ecosystem management

Leadership & Development (15%)

  • Cross-functional leadership
  • Marketing talent development
  • External visibility (3-4 speaking/year)
  • Industry relationship building
  • Mentorship across organization

Content & Creative (10%)

  • Creative vision setting
  • Content ecosystem design
  • Innovation in formats
  • Story architecture
  • Cultural relevance

L5A: Associate Director (IC Track)

Strategy & Planning (25%)

  • Company-wide marketing strategy
  • New market entry planning
  • Digital transformation roadmap
  • Marketing innovation lab
  • Ecosystem strategy

Brand Management (20%)

  • Master brand strategy
  • Portfolio brand architecture
  • Global brand governance
  • Purpose-driven initiatives
  • Brand valuation growth

Content & Creative (15%)

  • Content platform strategy
  • Creative excellence standards
  • Innovation partnerships
  • Emerging format adoption
  • Global creative direction

Analytics & Performance (15%)

  • Marketing science advancement
  • AI/ML implementation
  • Attribution model design
  • Marketing effectiveness council
  • Industry benchmarking

Leadership & Development (15%)

  • Industry thought leadership
  • Published articles/research
  • Conference keynotes (5+/year)
  • University partnerships
  • Marketing community building

Campaign Execution (10%)

  • Campaign innovation lab
  • Breakthrough initiative leadership
  • Global campaign frameworks
  • Agile marketing implementation

L5B: Associate Director (People Management)

Leadership & Development (30%)

  • Team management (5-15 people)
  • Performance development
  • Succession planning
  • Team culture building
  • Capability development
  • Career pathway design

Strategy & Planning (20%)

  • Function strategy with team
  • Resource allocation
  • Operating model design
  • Change management
  • Strategic initiative leadership

Brand Management (20%)

  • Team brand initiatives
  • Stakeholder management
  • Executive communication
  • Board presentation support
  • Culture-brand alignment

Analytics & Performance (15%)

  • Team performance metrics
  • Marketing ops efficiency
  • Budget optimization
  • Process improvement
  • Technology adoption

Content & Creative (10%)

  • Creative team leadership
  • Quality standards setting
  • Innovation culture
  • External agency management

Campaign Execution (5%)

  • Team delivery oversight
  • Resource optimization
  • Risk management
  • Escalation handling

L6: Director/Senior Director

Strategy & Planning (30%)

  • Division marketing strategy
  • 3-5 year roadmaps
  • M&A marketing evaluation
  • Market disruption planning
  • Portfolio optimization

Brand Management (25%)

  • Company brand evolution
  • CEO/executive positioning
  • Crisis management leadership
  • Investor story development
  • ESG narrative

Leadership & Development (25%)

  • Org design and scaling
  • Senior talent acquisition
  • Marketing transformation
  • Culture development
  • Board relationship building

Analytics & Performance (15%)

  • P&L responsibility
  • Marketing investment strategy
  • Board reporting design
  • Competitive intelligence
  • Market share strategy

Content & Creative (5%)

  • Creative vision approval
  • Agency relationship strategy
  • Innovation investment
  • Content governance

L7: VP Marketing/CMO

Strategy & Planning (40%)

  • Company growth strategy
  • Market creation
  • Business model innovation
  • Strategic partnerships
  • Industry transformation

Brand Management (30%)

  • Company reputation
  • Category leadership
  • CEO partnership
  • Board engagement
  • Investor relations support

Leadership & Development (20%)

  • C-suite collaboration
  • Marketing org vision
  • Industry leadership
  • Talent ecosystem
  • Succession planning

Analytics & Performance (10%)

  • Business growth metrics
  • Market valuation impact
  • Strategic KPI setting
  • Investment allocation
  • ROI accountability

Key Transitions

IC to Manager (L3/L4 → L5B)

New Skills Required:

  • People management fundamentals
  • Delegation while maintaining quality
  • Performance conversations
  • Team dynamics management
  • Budget ownership for team

Common Pitfalls:

  • Doing instead of leading
  • Avoiding difficult conversations
  • Not developing team members
  • Micromanaging creative work

Manager to Director (L5B → L6)

New Skills Required:

  • Strategic thinking over tactical
  • Influence without authority
  • Executive presence
  • P&L management
  • External representation

Common Pitfalls:

  • Staying in execution mode
  • Not thinking commercially
  • Limited external network
  • Functional silo thinking

Director to VP/CMO (L6 → L7)

New Skills Required:

  • Business strategy (beyond marketing)
  • Board management
  • CEO partnership
  • Industry influence
  • Investor relations

Common Pitfalls:

  • Marketing-only perspective
  • Insufficient financial acumen
  • Limited operational knowledge
  • Weak external presence

Marketing-Specific Competencies

Technical Skills Progression

L1-L2: Marketing automation, CRM, social media tools, Google Analytics L3-L4: Attribution platforms, SQL basics, marketing clouds, CDPs L5-L6: Predictive analytics, AI/ML applications, martech architecture L7: Technology strategy, digital transformation, data governance

Channel Expertise Evolution

L1-L2: 1-2 channel depth (e.g., email + social) L3-L4: Omnichannel orchestration L5-L6: Channel innovation and emerging platforms L7: Channel portfolio strategy

Industry Knowledge Requirements

L1-L2: Marketing fundamentals and best practices L3-L4: Deep vertical expertise and competitive landscape L5-L6: Cross-industry innovation and trends L7: Market-making and category creation

Assessment Criteria

Output Quality Metrics

  • L1-L2: Campaign delivery, quality scores, timeline adherence
  • L3-L4: ROI achievement, innovation index, team NPS
  • L5-L6: Market share growth, brand equity, talent retention
  • L7: Company valuation impact, industry recognition, transformation success

Behavioral Indicators

  • L1-L2: Learning agility, collaboration, execution excellence
  • L3-L4: Strategic thinking, influence, innovation
  • L5-L6: Leadership presence, vision, change agency
  • L7: Industry statesmanship, company representation, legacy building